Worst Day Ever: U.S. sees record deaths, cases, hospitalizations; FDA panel reviews emergency authorization for Moderna vaccine; $600 stimulus checks remain sticking point in negotiations; Several U.S. agencies attacked by suspected Russian hackers; +913K ballots already cast in Georgia Senate runoff races;
The Lead with Jake Tapper
CNN
3.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 17 December 2020
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Trump out of sight as U.S. faces worsening pandemic, WH Transition, ongoing cyberattack, no stimulus deal; Former National Security Adviser: Trump must get past his election grievances and govern; 885,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, 4th increase in 5 weeks; U.S. Cybersecurity Agency: Hack poses "grave risk" to Fed & local govts; Biden Atty Gen. decision at deadlock over competing questions; Sources: Judge Merrick Garland, Sen. Doug Jones are leading candidates for Attorney General; Sources: Rep. Deb Haaland is Biden's interior Secy pick; Incoming Biden Deputy Chief of Staff says she could have "chosen better" words than calling Republicans "f****rs"; Georgia runoffs to determine balance of power in U.S. Senate; Dem Senate Candidate Ossoff: "Victory in Georgia comes down to young people";
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is |
| 0:02.0 | this is CNN breaking news. |
| 0:04.0 | Welcome to the lead. I'm Jake Tapper and we begin today with breaking news in our health lead. |
| 0:09.0 | The coronavirus pandemic is by every measure the worst it has ever been in the United States. |
| 0:15.8 | An unimaginable number of lives have been destroyed. |
| 0:19.9 | Deaths, cases, and hospitalizations all shattered records yesterday. |
| 0:25.0 | 3,556 deaths were reported just yesterday, in one day. |
| 0:31.0 | There are more than 247,000 new infections as of yesterday that day and |
| 0:36.7 | 113,000 people are currently in the hospital battling COVID-19. In total more than 309,000 people in the US have died from this devastating virus, |
| 0:45.8 | and now the CDC projects up to 391,000 could be dead by January 9th, a little more than three |
| 0:51.8 | weeks from now. |
| 0:52.7 | Soon, we could have yet another tool to fight the virus. |
| 0:56.6 | Right now a key FDA panel is meeting, |
| 0:59.0 | and a second coronavirus vaccine could potentially |
| 1:01.8 | get the green light. |
| 1:03.0 | Moderna's vaccines could be in American arms as of Monday. |
| 1:07.0 | And if that vaccine is authorized, officials say, |
| 1:10.0 | the US will ship almost 8 million total doses to states in the next week. |
| 1:14.4 | It is a promising development. |
| 1:16.1 | It is light at the end of the tunnel. |
| 1:18.0 | But right now, right now, the virus is killing on average |
| 1:21.8 | two people every single minute in the United States. |
... |
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